A Daughter's Wrath
by Nightingale1408
Summary: Voldemort's daughter comes to Hogwarts. SECOND CHAPTER IS UP! Please R&R.
1. A New Arrival

Chapter I: A New Arrival

The Dark Lord was troubled. He sat in his chair at the end of a long polished wooden table. His long white bony fingers digging into the arms of his chair. How could it be true? The ghostly words of the prophecy that proclaimed his doom echoed in his memory. Time and time again he searched for his rival but was unsuccessful. He should have known that it wouldn't have been so easy to find, much less destroy his eternal enemy. Yet every time he was even thinking of being within arms reach of that wretched boy, his thoughts were then clouded with euphoria of finally being able to eliminate his one and only threat to greatness. The crushing reality of failure began rearing its ugly head, as though it was trying to burn it into his brain. He had failed, and his fellow Death Eaters had failed.

That was nine months ago. Now his thoughts changed and there stood an image of a young and beautiful witch standing beside him; powerful and unyielding. Her mother would surly understand him wanting to have her by his side and bask in all his tremendous glory. The girl would indeed make a powerful allay in his quest. He had foreseen it. But first he had to claim her. And her mother was making things difficult… very difficult. He gripped the arms of his chair in angered frustration. His thoughts raced through his mind feverish and maddening.

"My Lord…?"

His scarlet eyes came upon a slender woman with dark hair. She was covered in flowing black robes.

"Bellatrix," his voice hissed coldly.

"I'd just thought I'd let you know…we've found her,"

A faint spark of malice began to flicker within him. Bellatrix swallowed hard and took a breath.

"But…we haven't been able to capture her yet. Even in her weakened state she produced great strength against us. We…"

Voldemort's eyes flashed as he stood up. Bellatrix's eyes wavered to the marks he had left on his chair. Then her eyes fell upon the large snake coiling her master's neck gently like a scarf.

"Where is she?" he asked quietly.

"Well, we had her cornered in a forest not too far from here, but she escaped again and headed north," Bellatrix answered, her eyes still locked on the snake.

Voldemort walked down from the edge of the table towards her. Bellatrix shut her eyes tightly and her body stiffened with fear. She had known what would happen if she were to fail the Dark Lord. She had witnessed it many times before. She felt a brush of cold air lightly trace her skin. Bellatrix opened her eyes. Voldemort was behind her standing at the door. He ignored her terror stricken eyes and turned his head away from her.

"Let's go," he said.

Bellatrix's body shuttered as she obeyed her master's command. They walked along the long hallway. Bellatrix stared at the back of Voldemort's head as they entered a large darkened room with broken tables and chairs littering the floor. Cobwebs laced the corners of the rafters leading to the roof. All around shrieks and cackles could be heard from all sides.

"My Lord," whispered Bellatrix, "how are we going to be able to catch up to her? There are not enough of us to…"

"Serena won't run from me,"

"But she doesn't even know you're…"

"No, she doesn't," Voldemort interrupted.

Bellatrix could sense her master's irritation but before she could stop herself, she put her hand out upon his shoulder. Voldemort turned his head, looked at her hand, then at her.

"Don't touch me," he hissed angrily.

She quickly recoiled her hand as though she had just accidentally placed it over an open flame.

"I'm sorry my Lord," she said. "Please forgive me,"

Voldemort turned his head and began to stare out of the filthy window that was covered with years of built up dust, smoke and grime.

"Has she produced the child yet?"

"No," said Bellatrix. "But she might be due any minute. Due to what's happened I don't know if she'll…"

"It doesn't matter; it's not her that I want,"

Bellatrix's body shuttered again, but not with fear. The fact that he didn't even care if this woman lived or not thrilled her. She couldn't even stand to think of her beloved master with another woman.

"But what are you going to do with…?"

Voldemort did not hear her. He walked swiftly towards the door and stepped into the night air. Bellatrix followed him perplexed by his cryptic behavior. It was warm outside. To a normal witch or wizard it would be pleasant, but Voldemort found it sickening.

"Where did you say she was?" Voldemort asked turning around to face her.

"Up north," she said.

She gave a small gasp as she looked at him. Wearing her master's robes wasn't a face twisted and hollow with its snake like features. She saw a young, hansom looking man with dark hair and piercing blue eyes.

"You stay here," he told her.

Voldemort's eyes gleamed as he Disapperated from where he stood and soon found himself within the forest Bellatrix had spoken of. He closed his eyes for a moment, opened them, and began to walk along the forest path leading to a thick batch of trees.

Footsteps pounded along the worn out dirt path that stretched along further up north. The woman known as Serena clutched her stomach and was gasping for air. She ran up a hill as much as her tired legs would allow her, not even daring to look back. She reached the top of the hill and collapsed. She let out a small whimper as the contraction tightened and gripped her insides. It wouldn't be much longer now. She was sure that she had lost the recent group of Death Eaters that were attacking her. They would be a fool to try to come after her again. She'd be damned if anyone was going to take away her baby. There she sat on the ground. Doing her best to compose herself and fighting the blood curdling scream that was hardening inside her chest. Forcing herself to stand up, she took a deep breath and headed further up the road. She fell down again along the steps of a very large house. It was very clean and tidy. There were flower pots with lilies planted in them set within the windows. Serena raised a shaky hand and knocked on the door as loud as she could. She could her footsteps coming towards the door and looked up. A middle aged looking witch stood there holding the door open. She looked down at Serena with her eyes wide.

"Help me…my baby…" Serena whispered through tears.

The witch gasped and scooped Serena into her arms. She helped her inside and set her down in a big soft arm chair. She started to see blood dripping down the young witch's leg.

"Marie!" she called without turning her head.

A Healer all dressed in white appeared from the doorway from the other side of the room. She stopped dead in her tracks taken aback by what she saw.

"Go get the other Healers and bring them here. This woman's about to have a baby,"

"But…shouldn't we take her to Saint Mungos…?"

"There isn't enough time Marie! She's going to have it right now! Now do what I said!" the middle aged witch ordered.

Marie nodded and ran down the stairs. Serena was no longer able to contain herself and began writhing in the arm chair screaming and crying. The witch pulled her up from the chair and placed her on the floor that was covered in an expensive looking carpet. Marie came back into the room with three other Healers behind her. Carrying with them the things that they needed for what they had to do.

"I brought the other Healers Mrs. Lockhart," she said breathlessly.

"Good," the witch said and she signaled for the Healers to get into their proper places.

Marie peered down at Serena.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"Just stand over there," said Mrs. Lockhart pointing to her right.

Marie did as she was told, continuing to look down upon Serena's pain stricken face. Serena screamed again and Marie jumped back from where she was standing.

"Look, if you're not going to help then get out!" shouted Mrs. Lockhart.

"I'm sorry madam," Marie squeaked putting her hands over her mouth. "I've never been apart of a delivery before,"

Mrs. Lockhart glared at Marie.

"Comfort her then!" she said pointing to Serena.

Marie went and grabbed a couple of pillows and placed them underneath Serena's head. She knelt down behind her and began smooth back her long brown hair.

"What's your name?" Mrs. Lockhart asked Serena.

"Serena…" she answered with what seemed like a great effort.

"Alright, now just calm down and breathe. That's it, now what I want you to do is…"

Mrs. Lockhart was cut off by another ear splitting scream. Serena's eyes rolled as her head rested against the pillows. Tears were pouring down her face as she slipped into unconsciousness. As Serena came to, she slowly realized that she was in a room covered in white. She sat up trying to push off the heavy blankets weighing her down to her bed. She looked around and saw rows of neatly kept beds all lined up next to her. A shadow fell across her bed. Serena looked over and saw Marie sitting down next to her holding a bowl of soapy warm water and a washcloth. She pulled down the covers and opened up her gown to expose her stomach.

"Where am I?" Serena asked.

"In the infirmary within a wonderful orphanage. Mrs. Lockhart runs the place. She's a wonderful lady. My name's Marie. I'll be looking after you," Marie said.

Serena looked down and saw her belly. It now owned a fleshy pink curved scar where her baby use to be. Marie continued cleaning it with the wet washcloth.

"Where's my baby?" she asked when she realized it wasn't bulging any longer.

"In the next room,"

"Can I go see it?"

"You can see her when I get finished here," said Marie as she continued dabbing soapy warm water onto her.

"What happened?" she whispered.

"You passed out and we couldn't deliver the baby normally. So we had to remove her," Marie said calmly.

"Is she alright?" Serena almost shouted and tired to sit up.

"She's fine," said the young Healer in training. "She's perfectly normal. A pureblood too. Oh I'll bet she'll grow up to be something very special. You are a very lucky woman Serena,"

Serena gave a big sigh as she lay down upon the bed. Marie finished her cleaning and stood up.

"Come on lets go see her,"

Serena slowly got up from her bed and took Marie's arm. She was lead into another room all in white. There was a tiny crib where the baby was sleeping. She was dressed in a soft pink outfit covered in a pale pink blanket. Serena looked at the little chest of her baby moving up and down and began to weep. Marie put an arm around her shoulder.

"What's the matter? You have a beautiful baby girl. Why are you crying?" Marie asked.

Serena wiped her eyes with her sleeve and sniffed.

"I'm…just so…happy…that's all,"

Marie hugged her and smiled.

"Mrs. Lockhart says you can stay here until your ready to go home. You'll love it here. Come on I'll help you back to bed,"

"In a minute. I want to stay here a little longer," Serena said.

"Alright well call me when you're ready,"

Serena nodded and Marie left the room. She looked down at her baby and began to cry again. Only this time, it wasn't tears of joy. Sooner or later the baby's father would find them. And they would all be doomed. There was only one thing she could do. She waited until everyone had gone to bed the next night. She got up from her bed and pulled out two envelopes. She went up the stairs to the door to Mrs. Lockhart's office and placed one of the envelopes in front of the door. Serena placed her hand on the door and closed her eyes. She thought about Mrs. Lockhart and Marie's kindness and almost smiled. Serena turned her head slowly began to walk down towards the nursery clutching her daughter's one and only gift to her. Looking down on the little sleeping face Serena knew that this was for the best and that there was no other way. A tear rolled down her face as Serena placed the envelope on a little table next to where her daughter was sleeping. She then caressed her soft cheek and walked away.

The night air was cold and unforgiving. Serena huddled under her robes as she walked along the path while looking at all the trees she passed. They seemed bony and white, almost like a skeleton's hands; hollow and rigid. Serena quivered as she heard the branches creak when a small wind came by. She suddenly came into a clearing. The trees then formed a circle around her blocking off any chance of going any further. Serena looked around as dark hooded forms appeared from every direction. She pulled out her wand with a shaky hand, but was unsuccessful to do anything else as an orange stream of light caught her wand and blasted it away. One of the hooded intruders came towards her and raised its wand.

"Stop!" a voice thundered.

Another figure appeared between the raised wand and Serena and pulled back its hood. Serena gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

"I want to take care of this matter myself," he said to the figure holding its wand.

It then nodded and fell back amongst the other hooded figures. Voldemort looked down at his victim and smiled. Serena had fallen to her knees.

"Tom…"

"Where is she?" Voldemort demanded quietly.

Serena stood up and backed away; her body trembling with horror.

"Safe and away from you," Serena said while trying to mask her tremor of fear with anger although she knew it was useless.

"Come now Serena, a baby needs her father. Isn't that right?"

Voldemort began to step forward. His face mutated back to its original form. Serena's anger deepened as she waved her hands. He received a violent pushed and fell back. She then held out her hand and her wand flew back into it.

"Stay away from her!" she shouted.

Voldemort only grinned as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"Still got a little strength have you? Good, I was afraid this was going to be too easy,"

He then pulled out his own wand and aimed it at her.

"I think we both know what the outcome of this is. Just tell me how to find her and maybe I'll let you live,"

"Go to hell!" Serena screamed. "_Sectumsempra_!"

Red and orange lights shot from Serena's wand. Voldemort raised his own wand and a shield made of bright light appeared causing it to bounce and ricochet off the tree branches. It hit Serena in the stomach. She screamed in agony as she fell to the ground feeling her scar burst open. The blood soaking the front of her robes. She fought her body's heaviness as she got to her feet holding her open gapping wound. Voldemort seemed surprised as he looked at her. He turned away and headed up the hill. Serena launched herself at her attacker. She gripped at his robes and practically ripped them, clawing at his flesh. Voldemort flung her off and brought his hand to his left shoulder. He turned around and looked at her.

"I always did underestimate your will Serena. You never backed down from what you thought was important. I admire that," he said softly while looking at her.

"Stay away from my daughter!" Serena raged painfully.

Voldemort turned around and the trees went back to there original places, rooting themselves firmly to the ground. He smiled as he began to walk away towards the hill. The other Death Eaters disappeared. Serena blinked as Voldemort too, vanished into the night. She stood up and screwed her eyes shut as she felt herself being whisked away into the air. She now stood in front of the orphanage. She threw open the door and ran upstairs. There was a loud crack and Voldemort stood in the middle of the room smiling. Serena turned to face him and froze. She tried to pull out her wand as Voldemort began coming up the stairs but for some strange reason, couldn't find it. In a panic, she threw herself at him causing him to loose his balance and topple down to the floor. With a loud thud they both hit the carpet rolling around on the floor. Serena kicked him off of her and ran upstairs. Something grasped her ankle and hoisted her up into the air. She was then thrown up against the wall. Voldemort looked down at her. His face muscles tightened with anger.

"I've had enough of this!"

He raised his wand ready to strike. Serena pushed out her hands and sent him flying. He hit the two front wooden doors causing them to break apart. Voldemort lay there on the floor. He got up once again and ran to Serena with his wand held high. Serena could feel her life draining away from her. The adrenaline protecting her from the arms of death began to fade away. There would be no time to get to the nursery now. While gathering up the last of her strength Serena looked onto his eyes unblinking. He stopped dead in his tracks. His wand just inches away from her face. Her blue green eyes locked onto his. She could see a tiny speck of shock in them; Serena smiled. Voldemort tried to look away but her unforgiving gazed held him there, commanding him not to move.

"I swear with my last dying breath, you will never be able to touch my daughter. Even when I'm gone, you shall feel my wrath. You will know what true pain feels like,"

A ball of acid green light appeared between them it went inside Voldemort's body causing him to squirm from where he stood. He fell back against the banister. The blood in his veins felt like liquid fire. Serena smiled again and then she collapsed. A look of triumph and satisfaction rested upon her face. Voldemort turned away from her. His body quaking with pain. He etched his way towards the nursery door and pushed it open. He looked into the crib and saw the baby sleeping. He reached out his clammy hand toward her, but then pulled it back. The curse that was bestowed upon him swarmed within his body. He let out a yell. The baby stirred and began to cry. There was a loud crack from behind him. Bellatrix stood there with a worried look on her face.

"We have to leave my Lord. People are waking up. We'll be discovered," she said.

The baby continued to stir in her crib. Her cries growing louder.

"I'll kill them all," Voldemort seethed.

"No, you're not strong enough…" Bellatrix began to pull on his arm.

"I'm not leaving until I get what I came for!" he shouted pulling his arm away and supporting himself against the crib.

"That is a powerful curse that woman has place on you! We have to leave! There is nothing you can do now!" Bellatrix protested.

She wretched Voldemort away from the crib and Apparated out of the orphanage. Voldemort tired to break free of his servant's grasp but she wasn't letting go. They landed in front of their hideout. Voldemort forced her to let him go. He then clasped his cold hands around her neck.

"How dare you defy me!" he shrieked.

Soon other Death Eaters appeared and looked on as what was taking place began to unfold.

"I…had no choice!" Bellatrix gasped. "I know all about what's happening to you! That curse will kill you if you go near that baby. There's no claiming her now,"

Voldemort let go of Bellatrix and stepped back. His entire body racked with pain and anger.

"I thought she would have to literally sacrifice herself to save her. What sort of trickery is this?!" he rasped.

"It's not a trick," breathed Bellatrix. "There are other ways of protecting someone against someone else through other types of ancient magic. That curse is just one of them. You won't be able to go near her until she comes of age. Until then, we'll just have to hold off on her and focus on the Potters for now. There's nothing else we can do,"

Voldemort watched Bellatrix walk away back into the hideout. Soon all the other Death Eaters retreated inside. Voldemort let out a howl of rage as he was forced to face the undeniable fact that he, the Dark Lord, had failed once again.


	2. The Orphanage

Chapter II: The Orphanage

(Seven Years Later)

The sun crept along the horizon with its rays just barely touching the ground. Morning had come. The tiny occupants within Lockhart Manor were nestled comfortably in their bunk beds that were stacked neatly in rows stretching all across the room. The room was enormous. It was painted in a soft pleasant looking pink. Toy boxes sat next to each one of the beds filled with each child's own objects of happiness. Alongside there were the girl's dressers and closets. At the end of the room there were bookshelves lined with children's stories. The carpet was plush and also a darker shade of pink. A young boy no older than the age of six came walking down the hall outside of the girl's bedroom. He stopped at the door and opened it. He poked his head inside and took a big breath of air.

"Don't even think about it," said a voice.

The boy turned around still holding his breath and looked up. His eyes were bulging with both the strain of holding his breath and the surprise that he was caught. The witch behind him shook her head and sighed. The boy let out his big gulp of air and snapped his fingers.

"How many times have I told you William, not to scream at the girls to wake them up?" she asked quietly.

"Um…a lot?" the boy answered

The witch continued to stare at William as he lowered his head in shame.

"You wouldn't like it if it was done to you now would you?"

"No," said William.

"Then why do you do it?"

"Because it's fun,"

The witch frowned and William stood upright.

"Get downstairs," she said, pointing her finger down the hall. "Don't you ever let me catch you doing this again William. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Miss Marie!" William chirped.

He made a beeline for the stairs. Marie gave a heavy sigh and slowly opened the door.

"Alright everyone, time to get up!"

The little children slowly began to rise from their beds yawning and moaning. Marie gave a small laugh and entered the room.

"Another slow morning," she said to herself.

She actually preferred doing this than aiding the Healers. Looking back she really had no idea what she was doing trying to become apart of the medical field, except for the fact that her parents had wanted her to. After all, she had come from a long line of fantastic and well gifted Healers. She should be able to keep up the family tradition according to what her parents had wanted. The truth was, Marie's heart wasn't into it. She never wanted to become a Healer at all. She had always loved children and wanted to work with them instead. Although she had protested this time and time again to her parents, they would not have any part of it. When she was a sixth year in school she was sent to her aunt's orphanage as a Healer in training. Her aunt needed extra staff in the infirmary and Marie's parents thought it would be a perfect opportunity for her to get some good experience. Marie was placed as a live in staff member of the orphanage under the close watch of her aunt and her parents were given weekly reports on Marie's progress.

Although she hated doing it, oddly enough Marie also displayed her gift of a well experienced Healer. Her parents were happy, but her aunt was not. She could see that Marie was miserable, and she promised her that when there was an opening, Marie would be able to work in the position of helping to look after the children as she had always wanted. But then, month's later tragedy struck. Marie's parents had died in a crash while on a Knight Bus, taking a trip to Scotland. They hadn't even reached one block before the Bus malfunctioned, causing it to swerve and then finally slamming into a brick building. The news devistated both Marie and Mrs. Lockhart. Neither could do their jobs properly. Marie was clumsy while handing the other Healers their instruments in the infirmary. She had in fact accidentally cut one of the Healers while handing him a tool. Mrs. Lockhart displayed her grief by showing anger. Any bit of the tiniest mistake made would set her off. Later that day it had gotten worse. Marie spent her day walking on egg shells to avoid making Mrs. Lockhart any madder. It didn't work. It seemed like nothing she did ever pleased her. But the worst had come later that night when a young woman had come to the door…

Marie glanced over to the last bunk bed and noticed that one child had not waken up yet. All of the other little girls had gotten dressed and had gone downstairs for breakfast. Marie could hear the excited chatter of the girls as they went down the hall.

"Do you know what's for breakfast today?"

"Oh I hope it's French toast! I love French toast!"

"Me too! I'll race you downstairs!"

Marie poked her head out the door.

"No running!" she yelled.

She turned back and walked quietly over to the occupied bunk and bent down, gently shaking the little body covered in blankets.

"Pamela? Pamela wake up sweetheart. Time to get dressed. Breakfast is ready,"

Marie pulled the blanket back to reveal a little girl about seven years old. Her eyes remained closed. Marie brushed some her dark brown hair out of her face and spoke again.

"Wake up dear,"

Pamela rolled on her back and slowly opened her eyes. Through the tiny slits Marie could see that they were a midnight blue. She smiled and shook her again.

"Are you awake?"

"Yes Miss Marie…I'm awake…" Pamela answered quietly.

She sat up slowly and rubbed her eyes, trying to adjust them into focus. Marie stood up and began walking towards the door.

"Come on now, don't be late. Today is going to be a beautiful day,"

"Okay…" Pamela said as she watched Marie leave the room.

Pamela blinked as she got up from her bed and went to her dresser drawer. She pulled out her outfit for the day and began putting it on. After she finished brushing her hair, Marie came in and styled it into a braid for her. She then took Marie's hand and was lead down the hall, and downstairs into the dining room for breakfast. Pamela looked around at the other children as she sat down in her usual seat. They were staring at her again. She could feel them giving her dirty looks as she looked down at her plate. Pamela picked up her fork and began to eat.

"Eew…it's _her_ again," she heard a girl say.

"Why do we always have to sit so close to her?" said another.

"Because Mrs. Lockhart gave us assigned seats,"

"Well I wish it wasn't so close to _her_. I hate her,"

"I know me too,"

Pamela continued to eat her breakfast without looking up. She never understood why those three girls Isabelle Frost and the Valentine twins Violet, and Rose were so mean to her or why they hated her so much. Then again she never bothered to ask. She was afraid to. She had remembered very well what had happened the last time someone had asked them that very same question. It wasn't pretty. They were the three girls that were always making trouble. Yet somehow they didn't seem to receive very much of a punishment whenever they had gotten into trouble. After she had finished her breakfast and had drank her orange juice, Pamela got up from her seat and placed her plate and utensils on a huge cart at the end of the table. She then made her way up the stairs to begin her lessons without saying a word to anyone. It was better that way. She could spend the next few seconds walking towards the classroom without the other children being mean to her.

She sat at her desk waiting patiently for the day's lessons to begin. The other children began filing into the room, murmuring things in each other's ear. Pamela opened up her desk and pulled out a book she had been reading by two muggle brothers known as the Brothers Grimm. She had just gotten to the part about a wolf stalking a little muggle girl in a red hood when a voice spoke from above her.

"Alright children, take your seats. Let's begin today's lesson,"

Pamela put away her book and folded her hands on her desk awaiting her teacher's instructions. Suddenly a tiny mass of wet paper hit the back of her head. She picked it out of her hair and turned around. The three girls from earlier sat a row from behind her giggling quietly. Pamela turned around again facing the teacher doing her best to ignore them. There were a couple of times before where just simply ignoring them did not work, which later resulted in her being given a warning by Mrs. Lockhart. Pamela sighed as she continued to listen to her teacher. She could tell that this was going to be one of those times. Behind her she could hear another shot of wet, balled up paper being fired at her. She shut her eyes tightly hoping that this time it would miss. Then, something happened. A tiny splat came from behind her. Pamela turned around as Isabelle let out a shriek. The ball of paper had somehow landed right smack between her eyes. Violet and Rose, whom were sitting on either side of her gasped as the teacher looked up from his book eyeing the three of them.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

The victim of the backfired spitball plucked it off of her forehead. She looked at it, then at Pamela who quickly turned around again.

"No," she said.

The teacher stared at her for a minute, and then turned his attention back to the lesson at hand.

"Good,"

For the rest of the lesson all Pamela could think about was what had just happened. She was so sure that the spitball was heading for her; there was no way Isabelle could have done it to herself…

It was a warm and sunny afternoon. Pamela stepped outside into the courtyard looking around for something to do. Up ahead she could see two children playing Gobstones. She smiled and began walking toward the two children that were playing.

"Freak,"

She turned around and saw Isabelle, Violet, and Rose standing behind her. Isabelle, the one in the middle as usual, had long, platinum blond hair and ice blue eyes. She had her arms folded, her face bright red with embarrassment and anger.

"What do you want?" Pamela asked her.

"You did this to me," she said not answering her question.

She pointed to the middle of her forehead. A kind of strange yet circular looking mark was on it. Pamela guessed it was from what she now realized was a jinxed spitball that was meant to leave a rather lasting impression on the person it was fired at. Pamela began giggling before she could stop herself. It was what she deserved.

"You think this is funny?" Isabelle asked becoming more angry.

Pamela quickly ceased her laughing and froze. She had never seen her get this angry before.

"Yeah you better not laugh!" said Rose, who was on Isabelle's right; she had auburn colored hair and green eyes.

"Shut up Rose!" shouted Isabelle. "I don't need your help!"

Rose stopped laughing and stepped away from her shocked by her friend's behavior.

"Sorry Izzy…"

"It's Isabelle! How many times do I have to tell you?"

"I thought it was Isabella," said Violet, who was Rose's identical twin sister, and on Isabelle's left.

"No, it's Isabelle, stupid!"

Rose quickly came to her sister's defense. Pamela suddenly stared at Violet as she realized that her hair had changed color from auburn to black. She thought that her eye color had changed also, but she quickly turned her attention back to the tussle that was taking place.

"Hey, don't call Violet stupid Isabelle!"

Pamela looked at the three girls that were arguing. Then she bolted running as fast as she could across the courtyard. Isabelle and her friends stopped arguing long enough to realize what had happened. They charged after Pamela and soon caught up with her at the end of the courtyard which began at the bottom of some hills that were way too steep for Pamela to climb. Isabelle stopped and stared hard at Pamela while the twins followed close behind. She then looked at the book Pamela was carrying.

"Let me see that book!" Isabelle ordered, as she made a grab for it.

"No!" Pamela yelled.

She stepped back and Isabelle fell to the ground. The twins gasped as Isabelle picked herself up and examined her knees. She then looked up at Pamela with her eyes wide.

"You _freak_!"

Isabelle lunged at Pamela and pushed her. She fell back and hit her head hard on the ground. She began to cry as she felt the back of her head. Isabelle ignored her and picked up the book that had fallen out of Pamela's hands.

"Stupid book!" she yelled as she began tearing and ripping out the pages and letting them fly out of her hands.

"Don't!"

Pamela got up and grabbed a hold of the book Isabelle was tearing.

"Hey…!"

"It's _my _book! Give it back!"

The twins gasped again and ran away towards the child filled courtyard.

"Miss Marie! Miss Marie…!" they were screaming.

Pamela and Isabelle continued to tug on the book.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Pamela yelled.

Isabelle let out a cry as she was suddenly thrown backward. She hit the ground hard and rolled about a foot away from her. Pamela looked down at Isabelle breathing hard. Her teeth clenched together from the pain in the back of her head. Isabelle lay there on the ground crying, her face the color of scarlet. Pamela could hear shoes clacking against cement. She looked up and discovered Marie and the Valentine twins coming towards them. Each gripping her hands tightly with one of their own

"Alright you two, let go of my hands!" Marie shouted.

Marie wretched her hands free and looked at both at Pamela and Isabelle.

"What happened here?"

Pamela gripped her book tight and pressed it close to her chest as though it was a shield to repel harm.

"Isabelle…she took my book from me…she ripped it up…" Pamela whispered.

She presented the ruined book to Marie with both hands. Tears were forming small wet beads on her face. Marie looked at Pamela for a moment then nodded slowly.

"I see," she said. "And what happened to Isabelle? Why is she on the ground? Did you push her?"

"No," Pamela said. "I didn't push her…I don't know what happened,"

Marie put her hands on her hips and hung her head in frustration.

"Alright you know what? All four of you to Mrs. Lockhart's office now,"

Pamela took a step back in shock.

"What…but Miss Marie I didn't do anything wrong I swear!"

Marie went towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. She knelt down and looked at her.

"You're not in trouble Pamela, but Mrs. Lockhart still wants to talk to you. Now let's go,"

Marie took her and as Isabelle had gotten up and began brushing herself off.

"But what about my book?" Pamela asked.

"We can fix it later; it'll be good as new I promise,"

The two of them began walking back with Isabelle and her posse not too far behind them. As they walked up the stairs leading to Mrs. Lockhart's office Pamela could hear the other children coming through the doors and heading up the other set of stairs to their rooms. Pamela closed her eyes and sighed. She was lead to a long hallway. The polished walls were lined with large paintings bordered in golden frames. Pamela looked up and gave a small smile as the people in the paintings gave her their friendly hellos. Her tiny shred of happiness evaporated instantly as she sat down on a long wooden bench against the wall. Isabelle along with Violet and Rose sat down next to her. Pamela looked down at her feet. She could feel Isabelle's cold yet burning gaze of hatred upon her as though a beam of painful light seared against the side of her face. Marie had disappeared behind the big wooden doors. About a minute later they opened and she stepped out.

"Isabelle, Violet, Rose, Mrs. Lockhart wants to see you now,"

The three of them got up from where they sat and went inside. The doors closed again and Pamela was left alone. With nothing but her thoughts to occupy her time. What was it that she had done to Isabelle? She never even touched her. Yet Isabelle was pushed violently back onto the ground. She also could not deny what had happened in the classroom earlier. Was she responsible for that as well? Pamela didn't really know for sure. All she did know was that she was so sick and tired of people picking on her. She was tired of being the constant victim of Isabelle's cruelty. She just wanted it to stop. One way or another Pamela knew at some point she was going to need to stick up for herself. Even if that meant her getting sent to Mrs. Lockhart's office a hundred times, she did not care. She would not let Isabelle or anyone else for that matter mistreat her ever again.

The doors opened. The girls came out of Mrs. Lockhart's office; they stopped short and Isabelle and Rose began staring hard at one another. Violet on the other hand, whose hair had gone back to its original color, stood behind them smiling. No doubt that they were all punished for what had happened. So why was she so happy?

"We're not your friends anymore Isabelle," declared Rose. "What you did to Violet was wrong. You don't ever call my sister names,"

Isabelle stood there frozen in shock.

"But…but…"

"We've had it with the way you've treated us. You don't even treat us like we're your friends! All you ever do is order us around like we're your slaves! You said that without you, we'd never have any friends. Well, we'd rather be by ourselves than to stay friends with you!"

Isabelle continued to stand there not saying a single word. Rose turned her head towards her sister.

"Come on Violet, we better get started,"

Violet's smile spread wider across her face as she took Rose's hand and they walked together down the hall, leaving Isabelle all alone. The door opened again and Marie's head came out from behind it.

"Pamela, it's your turn,"

Pamela slowly rose from her seat and entered Mrs. Lockhart's office. The room was filled with more magical paintings. This time they were all large groups of children standing in straight rows smiling and giggling. Pamela guessed that they were all portraits of the children that use to live at the orphanage.

"Sit down dear," she heard Mrs. Lockhart say.

Pamela obeyed and sat down in a chair across from where the head of the household was sitting.

"What happened today Pamela?" Mrs. Lockhart asked softy.

Pamela looked up at her and opened her mouth to speak.

"Well…I was going to go ask these two boys if I could play Gobstones with them, and then that's when Isabelle started yelling at me about what had happened in class earlier today. I really didn't mean to, but I laughed at her. Then she got _really_ angry and that's when Rose started yelling, then Isabelle was yelling at Rose, then Violet said something, then Isabelle was yelling at Violet…"

Pamela paused and looked at Mrs. Lockhart. Mrs. Lockhart nodded slowly.

"Go on,"

"When they were all yelling at each other, I ran away. I didn't want Isabelle to be mean to me anymore. When I couldn't run anymore, Isabelle pushed me down and took my book away from me. She started ripping it up,"

Pamela could fell fresh tears forming in her eyes. She put her arm up in front of her face and tried to wipe them away. Marie handed her a handkerchief. Pamela took it and wiped her eyes.

"I'm sorry…" Pamela muffled through the handkerchief as she was preparing to blow her nose.

Marie went over and patted Pamela on the back.

"Did Isabelle call you any names?" Mrs. Lockhart asked.

"Yeah," Pamela sniffed as she finished with the handkerchief. "She called me a freak,"

"She _what_?!" Mrs. Lockhart practically shouted, sounding as though it was one of those words that should never be spoken.

Pamela jumped from within her seat. She looked up at Mrs. Lockhart with frightful eyes. Mrs. Lockhart had stood up from her chair. Her face hardened with anger.

"Isabelle said that to you?"

"Yes," Pamela answered.

Mrs. Lockhart sat back down in her chair. Her face softened.

"What happened next?" she asked.

"Well...I don't know," Pamela said.

Mrs. Lockhart looked confused.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I…wanted my book back. Isabelle wouldn't let go. I was so mad at her for the way she treated me all the time. I just wanted her to stop,"

"What happened Pamela?" Mrs. Lockhart said leaning onto her desk.

"She…flew backwards…away from me…I didn't even touch her and she just went backwards onto the ground. The same strange thing happened in class today too. She was going to shoot a spitball at me but…it went on her forehead instead,"

Mrs. Lockhart eased back into her chair and nodded as if she suddenly understood everything.

"Ah, now I understand," she said.

"Huh?" Pamela asked confused.

Mrs. Lockhart snapped her finger and a small empty drinking glass appeared on the table.

"Move that glass for me," she said.

Pamela reached for the glass but Mrs. Lockhart shook her head.

"No, not that way, with your mind,"

"I don't understand," Pamela said withdrawing her hand.

Mrs. Lockhart folded her hands and placed them on her desk.

"Remember how you wanted to get Isabelle to stop tearing your book? Well think about how you should move this glass the same way. Go on, try,"

Pamela looked at Mrs. Lockhart then at the glass. She placed her chin upon the desk and squinted her eyes while focusing on the glass in front of her. The glass suddenly began shaking.

"That's it…keep going you can do it," said Mrs. Lockhart.

Pamela continued to focus on the glass. It then moved across the table. The glass tipped over and Pamela sat up in her chair dumbfounded.

"Do you know what just happened Pamela?" Mrs. Lockhart asked.

Pamela shook her head.

"You have a magical power, a gift,"

"I do?" Pamela gasped as she covered her mouth with both hands.

"Yes, you can move objects with your mind. It's called telekinesis,"

"Tele…_wow_!" Pamela exclaimed.

She had sprung up from her chair and began dancing around the room.

"I have a magic power! I have a magic power!" she sang happily.

Mrs. Lockhart laughed while Marie stood next to the door with her back against the wall smiling.

"Alright now, calm down,"

Pamela stopped dancing and returned to her seat grinning from ear to ear.

"Now listen very carefully Pamela, are you listening?"

"Yes Mrs. Lockhart," Pamela said doing her best to control herself.

"Good, now everyday after lunch you and I are going to practice on your power. It will help you get better at it and make you stronger,"

"Why do I need to practice?" asked Pamela leaning her head to one side.

"Because if you don't, bad things might happen and you won't be able to control it. You might hurt people very badly. You don't want that to happen now would you?"

Pamela's thoughts raced to the incident that had happened within the courtyard. Even though Isabelle was mean to her she still didn't mean for her to get hurt.

"No," she said.

"Good, now before you leave I have something for you,"

Mrs. Lockhart opened a drawer and pulled out a scarlet colored book with gold and fancy looking writing.

"This is for you,"

Pamela let out a shriek of joy as Mrs. Lockhart handed her back her book, her most treasured possession, good as new. It looked as though it was just bought from a bookstore.

"My book! Oh thank you Mrs. Lockhart, thank you!" she cried.

Pamela ran over to Mrs. Lockhart and wrapped her arms around her.

"You're welcome sweetheart. You may leave now. And remember what I said earlier. We'll start tomorrow, right after lunch,"

"Yes Mrs. Lockhart," said Pamela happily.

Pamela practically ran out of Mrs. Lockhart's office. She bolted passed the classrooms, passed the dining room and the stairs, straight to her room. She went to a small nightstand at the side if her bunk and placed her book neatly inside the opened drawer.

"Um…Pamela?"

She turned around and saw the Valentine twins standing there. They were holding each other's hand. Their faces were sad and their eyes were filled with regret. They both looked like they were going to cry.

"What?" Pamela asked while closing the drawer to her nightstand.

Rose took a breath and closed her eyes.

"We just wanted to apologize for what happened today. It was wrong and we shouldn't have done it,"

Pamela nodded slowly, her eyes switching back and forth between the two of them.

"We never really wanted to be Isabelle's friend," said Violet. "We were just so lonely. We were afraid of never being able to make any friends, we just did whatever she told us to make her happy. That way we wouldn't be alone so much,"

"Uh huh," Pamela said.

"When we ran away to go get Miss Marie, we were really going to tell on Isabelle not on you. When Isabelle called Violet stupid, that's when we decided not to hang around her anymore. When we were all in Mrs. Lockhart's office, Isabelle actually tried to put all of the blame on us. But Mrs. Lockhart didn't believe her. We all ended up getting punished. We have to write lines saying: 'We will not be mean to the other children in this house' two hundred times," Rose explained.

"What you did to Isabelle was actually kind of cool," said Violet. "How did you do it?"

Pamela opened her mouth but then closed it. For some reason she felt better keeping her magical power a secret although she didn't know why.

"I don't know," Pamela finally said shrugging her shoulders.

"Wow, I wish I could do that," said Violet.

"Me too," said Rose looking at her sister.

Pamela giggled and looked down at her shoes.

"Pamela?" she heard one of the twins ask.

She looked up.

"Yeah?"

"Um, we were just wondering. Can we hang out with you tomorrow?" Violet asked.

Pamela's eyes widened and she felt joy rise from within her. They wanted to be her friends.

"Sure!" she said.

"Cool!" the twins said together.

The three of them hugged and then sat down on Pamela's bed talking to each other. A voice over the loudspeaker came from above the room announcing that dinner was ready. All of the girls from the room filed out of the room accordingly talking and laughing. That night while Pamela lay in bed, her thoughts melted together like paint colors being mixed onto paper. She let out a sigh as she closed her eyes. She pulled the covers over herself letting the soft and blissful spell of sleep take over her body. It had indeed been a beautiful day, just as Marie said it would be.


End file.
